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Dragon Lancer
The Dragon Lancer is a card idea made by Archmage101, and is often considered the best card idea ever made in the subforum. Being the subforum champion, the Dragon Lancer has destroyed every contestant he found on the CIT and in the Master's Final, remaining undefeated to this day. Its thread received extremely positive feedback, being the most replied card idea of all time, and having 88% of approval in its poll. Thread Content New card idea: Dragon Lancer Table of Contents:-''' I. Lore II. The main idea III. Stats IV. Attacking Strategies V. Defensive Strategies VI. Counter Strategies VII. Balancing VIII. Conclusion IX. FAQ X. Change-log http://i.imgur.com/UyTEGaM.png '''I. Lore By DrKillpatient Dragon Lancer, birth name Drae Guhn Lan Sere, was born on April 4th, the 4th of four children and was a 4th generation immigrant. His parents were poor, so he had to work in the kangaroo farms to support them. Turns out kangaroos can be quite feisty critters, and he had learn to fight, box, and jump with the best of them to survive and gain their respect. Eventually, his hard work paid off, and thanks to private studying he was able to start school in the 4th grade. When he entered, some of the other students routinely made his life miserable. Four bullies in particular were quite ruthless in their harassment. But Dragon Lancer was tough, and not easily deterred. He used his jumping skills that he picked up from the kangaroos to leap around them, effortlessly avoiding their blows and striking them down. The bullies were surprisingly stubborn though; he had to beat them all four times before they got the message. Dragon Lancer was not blind to this. The number "4" began to develop a sacred significance to him. He became obsessed with it, trying to live his life by the Four. He would always leave for school at 4am, and spend the hours waiting for it to open training to fight and jump. He would eat four meals every day, and only had four beverages he would drink: water, milk, coffee, and eggnog. His math teachers became irritated with him when he insisted on using a custom base four number system to answer questions. He didn't care; the Four would guide him. One day, when Dragon Lancer was sixteen years old, a dragon attacked the village. The dragon was supposed to go to the new arena, but he got bored and instead tried to make an easier living stealing from small, weak villages. He attacked once, and the villagers thought it was a freak event. He attacked a second time, and the villagers began to grow anxious. When the dragon attacked the third time, Dragon Lancer was sure he would also come a fourth, and he would be ready then. Sure enough, four days later the dragon assaulted again. Dragon Lancer was ready; using his skills that he'd picked up from the kangaroos, he leaped up to face the dragon. The beast proved to be quite a fearsome opponent, and Dragon Lancer was soon put on the defensive. Just when all seemed hopeless, Dragon Lancer could swear he heard his father's voice in his head: "Use the Four, Dragon Lancer. Let go." Dragon Lancer heeded, closing his eyes and striking one, two, three, four times. When he opened his eyes, the dragon laid dead at his feet. The boy obsessed with four was now the village hero. Dragon Lancer decided that he must hone his perfection of the Four by combat. He fashioned a suit of armor from the dragon, said goodbye to his village, and left for the Arena. First though, he had to qualify to enter. He and thirty-nine other contestants entered into a competition to see who would be allowed to enter; only the top five would advance. At first, Dragon Lancer was worried: he was doing too well, placing second among the competitors. To remedy this, Dragon Lancer slightly toned down his prowess until he landed in sweet, beautiful 4th place. But then, in the last round, a horror of all horrors happened: Dragon Lancer was bumped down to 5th place. How could this be? Had the Four abandoned him? Was his life built on a lie? Fortunately, the Four worked in mysterious ways. The 1st place entrant, M.E.G.A. P.E.K.K.A, was disqualified when it was discovered he cheated at the "rope climb" challenge, hiring a barbarian to put on armor and fake treads and do it for him. This also explains why M.E.G.A. P.E.K.K.A inexplicably shrank for that challenge and why he was saying "Ragh!" much more than usual. With that disqualification Dragon Lancer was back in 4th place, and all was right again in the world. Once again, Dragon Lancer heard his father's voice say "Remember, the Four will be with you. Always." Now, Dragon Lancer seeks to show all the true power of the Four. He and his followers are dedicated to its wondrous majesty, and will not deviate from its perfection. II. Main Idea Summary: The Dragon Lancer is a specialized legendary troop who deals percentage damage; that is, he deals damage based on the opponent’s health. With his incredible leaping abilities, he jumps high into the air to slice down on air and ground units alike, despite the fact that he is melee. For about half of his attack, he is in the air, and will become impervious to ground-only attacks, also causing the enemy that can only target ground to re-target. He is also able to jump the river. Due to his lance’s length and his expertise with it, he is able to attack across the river, his range equaling that of the Prince (2.5, but melee). He always takes four hits to kill an enemy. Any enemy. He does 25% of the targets total health in damage, taking tanks out with ease. However, he suffers greatly when it comes to smaller troops, and can be very easily countered. He has reduced Crown Tower damage, equaling only 10% (two fifths of normal damage). Due to his damage type, he is a very unique card, and will remain very consistent in card interactions no matter his or the enemy’s level. Damage: Dragon Lancer's damage is a static 25%. That is, his damage does not change with levels. The damage is based solely on the enemy's health, doing 1/4 of the enemy's total health in damage. As some opponent's health isn't evenly divisible by 4, the damage is rounded up to make sure it always take only 4 hits. Jumping: Dragon Lancer jumps. It's as crazy as hog jumping, though maybe a different style of crazy. His jumping allows him to leap over the river, but that's not even the best part. Jumping allows Lancer to attack air units, even as a ground melee unit. Your lava hound is not safe from the lancer. Furthermore, jumping makes him an air unit (in a sense) for a short time. That means ground-target troops will have to re-target, as they can no longer hit him when he goes into the air. The jumping would work similarly to e-wiz stun, such that a ground-target troop will continue their attack upon Lancer landing. However, he doesn't jump with every attack. He only jumps against air troops, or to jump over the river, so ground troops won't have issues attacking him unless air troops are nearby as well. III. Stats http://i.imgur.com/yva9Yu7.png (Damage dealt is rounded up (ceiling) to prevent the enemy from surviving with 4 hp, or something) IV. Attack strategies He is vulnerable to many troops, so if used on offense, he needs to be protected. Though you could try rushing with him, it would be best to do so only when the enemy has spent a significant amount of elixir and will be unable to counter. At tourney level, he does less damage to a tower than a mini-pekka, and is more vulnerable to more troops. He is best utilized behind a tank of some sort, and/or a unit that can deal with swarms. Some good combos would be: Dragon Lancer + Valkyrie: the valk has the health to tank for a bit, as well as the AoE damage to keep swarms from overwhelming the dragon lancer, who can deal with any big-troop counters. The easiest ways to defeat this combo would be to distract the pair (possibly with an ice golem) and use a small, heavy hitter to focus on the dragon lancer, such as a mini-pekka. In a fight, mini-pekka only requires two hits (or one hit plus one hit from a tower) to take out dragon lancer, and the valk will be easy after that. Dragon Lancer + Executioner: another deadly combo, the same principle applies. Keep the swarm away, and dragon lancer can dish out some damage. This can also be countered with distract, or by placing a troop behind the executioner (possibly and ice golem) and a swarm unit in front (like skarmy, skelie, guards, goblins, etc.) With the executioner distracted, the dragon lancer will fall with ease. But if not countered well, this combo, like the previous, can dish out some damage. As far as combos go, you get the idea. He needs serious help when facing smaller units. With just one skeleton card, the dragon lancer would require 16 seconds to defeat them, and with their collective dps of 268, it will take them only 3 seconds to defeat him. V. Defense strategies Here is where the dragon lancer shines. Tank and a big push coming at you? Distract the support troops and let the dragon lancer loose on the tank. A giant will fall in 4 seconds, as will a golem and lava hound. However, the golemites and lava pups will each require an additional 4 seconds, so he’s best used for the initial take-down. Enemy place a royal giant? Wreck his face with a lance! The dragon lancer will take him out in no time. Enemy uses graveyard? No. Don’t place dragon lancer. Seriously, very bad idea. You get the picture. Dragon Lancer + Ice Golem: Keep the tank's support distracted with the ice golem, and let the lancer absolutely massacre. It'll be fun for you, but so very sad for the opponent, whose tank vanished before his eyes. VI. Counter strategies The easiest way to counter him is with swarms, but some damage troops will do. Spells also work, as fireball + one tower shot will kill him. Lower spells will have to be used in combination, though. He's easy to distract, so dealing with him won't be a major problem (see chart below). Dealing with his support will be your biggest challenge. http://i.imgur.com/bwpjT0G.png http://i.imgur.com/z5bRaLm.png Positive Encounters: Number of troops they will win against in 1-on-1 interactions. Counters: Number of troops they counter well. As shown, he wins against less troops than mini-pekka. So he's easier to counter than mini-pekka. He's most valuable against countering tanks, so while he would potentially discourage people dropping a royal giant on the bridge, he would not discourage tank use too much, as people could learn to counter him relatively easily. But he is dangerous is left alone with the enemy tank. VII. Balancing Initially his damage started at 24% and increased each level (by 10%) to have 35% damage at level 5. This made him seriously broken in ladder, as card interactions would not be the same no matter the enemy card levels. His damage was changed to a static 25%, so he has the same card interactions whether in tourney or ladder. Initially his health was equal to a logs damage, for fear of his damage type being too powerful. After considerations, however, his health was increased to let him survive a fireball of equal level, as he was too easily countered for his price. Initially his hit speed was 1.5sec, but that was quite slow and made him extremely easy to counter with most combinations. His hit speed was increased to 0.9sec to make him more useful. Initially his movement speed was medium. However, that did not fit with the theme of the card, and it also made him less useful on offense, which he already struggles with a bit (a fireball + one tower hit beats him). His speed was increased to fast (but not very fat, as that could be too good). After feedback of hit speed being too quick, it was reduced from 0.9sec to 1.2sec. Added Priority Targeting to add a bit more strategy, and make distractions a bit less of an issue. Removed Priority Targeting, as it makes Dragon Lancer practically replace Inferno Dragon. Buffed hit speed from 1.2sec to 1sec. Now it takes 4 seconds to kill an enemy. Use the Four, Dragon Lancer. VIII. Conclusion This card has a very unique attack mechanic that would allow for very interesting interactions in the arena, while giving him a special place as a legendary. While he does well at countering tanks, he is not a must-use card due to his high-risk factor, and because other cards already used in a person’s deck can likely be used to counter a tank and survive for a counter push. However, he excels at defense against tanks, and can be utilized for a counter push as well, if done right. He is not a master-counter card, as many cards will win against him, especially when paired with other cards or even the tower. This game does not yet have a card that deals percentage damage, and I believe this would be a great way to introduce it. IX. FAQ ' Q. '''This guy sounds like a variation on Inferno Dragon. Won't he replace it? 'A.' No, I don't believe he will. I personally feel that inferno dragon needs a buff atm, as it's so easy to distract. In addition, it isn't used much because of skeleton army (counters tanks and has more versatility), inferno tower (counters tanks and lures building-targeters), and balloon (the high damage air unit that often goes in an air deck, taking the inferno dragon's spot). Regardless, as Dragon Lancer has such a unique mechanic, he will not be the played the same as inferno dragon would. He will be countered by swarms just the same, but there are some key differences. Firstly, he starts dealing out his high damage immediately, rather than needing to build up a charge. As such, he's a better reaction card. However, he is vulnerable to many troops that inferno dragon isn't susceptible to, being that it flies. That give more opportunities for things to kill him. In addition, the inferno dragon is far more worrisome on a counter-push. While dragon lancer does less damage than a mini-pekka to a tower, inferno dragon can demolish a tower if allowed to charge. A dragon lancer is worse than a mini-pekka and inferno dragon on offense, but generally better on defense (unless facing ground targeting troops). '''Q. As he can jump into the air and become invulnerable to ground units, won't they be unable to counter him? ' A.''' ''He is still counterable by ground-target troops because he only jumps against air troops or over the river. He would not be in the air long, and the enemy would attack him upon his landing. Think of it like an electro wizard's stun that only works on ground-target troops, and only if he's attacking an air unit. It can potentially save him from a few situations (especially with his extended range), but isn't whatsoever overpowered. However, he has his jumping ability primarily to allow him to hit air units. The ground-troop re-target and jumping the river are just thematic bonuses to go along with the primary purpose, which also make him a more unique-feeling card. In addition, you may think that the troops would just start to leave when he jumps up. That's true, they would. However, they won't have gone far by the time he comes down, and they should still be within range to hit him once more, and this is in regards to very few scenarios, so it won't come up often. Q. As SuperCell has stated they want a more offensive styled game, wouldn't he be too defensive to be viable? ''' A. As he stands, he definitely does better on defense. However, he isn't completely useless on offense. Nevertheless, his primary use would be on the defense, so how can this be fixed? There are two potential ways I've thought of to do so: (1) damage to crown towers is also 25%, or (2) his speed is increased to very fast. The first option would be rather overpowered, so it would have to be in conjunction with a medium speed at the fastest, and potentially a health nerf. Overall, it isn't my favorite option. A very fast speed would make him more threatening, as he would get to the tower quickly enough to do some decent damage. If he isn't offensive enough as he stands, that'd be an easy way to help him out.' '''Q. Shouldn't his damage increase as he levels up so he's more useful, and levels like other cards? ' A.' ''No, his damage should not change. Simply put, he is not like other cards. Whenever taking percentage into account, it cannot change with level. Interactions at tourney standard would have greatly different results than in ladder. If, say, he had 20% damage at level 1 and 35% damage at level 5, he would 5-shot a giant at tourney standard, but 3-shot a giant when maxed. This is the same with any other idea that utilizes percentages. Percentage values must remain static through leveling. On the bright side, he is not susceptible to being over-leveled or failing against over-leveled troops. A level 1 dragon lancer will kill a giant just as quickly as a level 5 dragon lancer would, and a level 9 royal giant will die just as quickly to a dragon lancer as a level 13 royal giant will. He is very consistent.' '''Q. Isn't 4 seconds to kill a golem, for a +4 elixir trade, extremely overpowered? ' A. One might think so at first glance, but in fact, it is not. Firstly, having this card would be risky, as it's only good against tanks. If the opponent doesn't use a tank, then he's rather useless. If the opponent does use a tank, he can still be countered by spells or well-played support troops. As it would take him far longer to kill a musketeer or wizard than it would a mini-pekka, a mini-pekka would likely be a safer card to use. However, with this card's high risk comes very high reward. He might be able to be countered by a lot, but if you successfully use him, he can wreck the tank of a push. This in combination with other troops could make him very useful. Q. Since he has so much value for 4 elixir, shouldn't fireball be able to kill him? ''' A. ''Well, as explained in the last question, he has tons of counters already. An over-leveled fireball will kill him, but not a fireball of equivalent level. Having him countered by fireball, one of the most popular spells in the game atm, would make him that much riskier. The card already holds a ton of risk, so adding to it unnecessarily would make him rather underpowered except in very precise situations.'' 'Q. Does he do 25% damage to crown towers? Taking out a crown tower with four hits in 4.8 seconds is op. ' A. Believe it or not, I've been asked this a few times, despite the card image. As he has such a great attack, and towers would be absolutely demolished by him, he has reduced crown tower damage. He does 40% of normal damage, as spells and miner do, and thus does 10% damage instead of 25%. So, rather than 4 hits, it would be 10 hits (12 seconds rather than 4.8). As mini-pekka can destroy a tower in 9 seconds, and has the health to do so (whereas lancer does not), lancer is not whatsoever overpowered against crown towers. 'Q. What's with all the fascination with "four"? It's all in his backstory, his cost, his hits to kill, his time to kill, etc. Are you mental? A.' That's arguable. But in truth, the fascination with four just developed naturally after he was made. With 25% damage, it became a "thing" to say that he does everything with four. He only speaks with four words per sentence, he's a master at four-letter words, etc. From flippant comments such as that, "four" kinda became a fun staple concept. DrKillpatient then took it to the extreme in writing the backstory, where there's "four" everywhere. As such, whenever someone uses lots of fours, there's often a little (Dragon Lancer) next to it. It's a fun little thing people will occasionally do in the forums. If the card were to be implemented, I'd definitely hope "the Four" was a part of his characterization in-game.' '''X. Change-log' 01/02/17 Post 02/02/17 Added concept image 03/02/17 Buffed attack speed from 1.5 to 0.9 Buffed hp from 250 to 574 Buffed movement speed from Medium (60) to Fast (90) Corrected Tower Damage (two fifths (2/5) normal damage) 04/02/17 '''Damage changed to static (25%) '''13/02/17 Massive page re-design. Same concept, but re-organized. 15/02/17 Changed name to not accidentally reference a final fantasy class Added comparison charts for greater comparability. 21/02/17 '''Nerfed attack speed from 0.9 to 1.2 Improved comparison charts '''07/03/17 Added a FAQ section. Re-located 1-on-1 interactions to the counters section. 28/03/17 Changed change-log dates from mm/dd/yy to dd/mm/yy Added a more extensive lore (thank to DrKillpatient) Altered Font and Font Size Changed Main Idea section to summarize various aspects a bit better Added Priority Targeting 02/04/17 ''' Removed Priority Targeting '''04/04/17 Celebrated Dragon Lancer's birthday 08/04/17 Buffed hit speed from 1.2sec to 1sec (for the Four) Updated images and comparison charts 02/05/17 '''Changed jumping to only occur when attacking air or jumping the river Added FAQ about defense/offense ratio and the Four Originally Posted by Zygarde123 https://forum.supercell.com/showthread.php?p=9849691#post9849691"The Four will always be with you." Not true. Still takes 10 hits to destroy a tower Originally Posted by Archmage101 https://forum.supercell.com/showthread.php?p=9849973#post9849973Ah, but you forget: he takes 10 hits because his CT damage is 10%, because his normal damage is 25%, and CT damage is '''40% of normal damage, which is 4 divided by 10. The Four works in mysterious ways. Originally Posted by WubWub99 https://forum.supercell.com/showthread.php?p=9850072#post9850072 Best comeback ever. Category:Troop_Ideas